Insulator packing crate



March 3, 1942. E.v R. wlLsoN 2,275,332

INSULATOR PACKING CRATE Filed May l0, 1939 Patented Mar. 3, 1942 UNITED stares Meur orties f Corning Glass Works, Corning,

ration of New York N. Y., a corpo- Application. May 10, 1939, Serial No. 272,917

(Cl. 2XL-52)l 2 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in boxes, crates or cases designed for use in the protection of suspension insulators, not only during shipment thereof but also until such insulators have been suspended from the tower of a system of vpower distribution of which they are to form a part.

It has been common practice in the past to place a string of suspension insulators wholly within a crate, resembling somewhat those illustrated in the accompanying drawing, placing the string under tension by adding hard wood cross slats to the ends of the crate and wiring the ends of the insulator string to such slats, the crates themselves after being closed being thoroughly nailed together. With such Ia structure and method of packing or crating, considerable labor and material are required to prepare the insulator string for shipment. When the ins-ulator string is delivered to location for use, considerable labor is again required for unpacking, and this must be done to make the insulator string available for suspension from the tower. The insulator string is accordingly unprotected While being raised and attached to the tower.

An object of the present invention is a new and improved form of crate which requires a minimum of material and labor in its constructionand which facilitates the packing and unpacking of a string of insul-ators with greater ease than structures of the past have permitted.

A further object of the present invention is the protection of an insulator string from the time it leaves the location of assembly until it has been installed for use.

The invention embodies a crate so constructed that an assembled string of insulators can be placed therein with the head of the uppermost insulator of the string protruding therefrom available for attachment to a tower fixture, thereby enabling the string of crated insulators to be raised and suspended from a tower prior to the removal of the crate.

The invention 'also embodies a crate so designed and constructed that it can be opened and removed from about a suspended string of insulators by simply cutting two holding bands surrounding the crate, swinging the crate cover in open position and late-rally sliding the crate from about the insulator string.

Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawing is a perspective View of one form of crate assembly embodying the invention, showing the crate cover about to be placed in position to close the crate;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the crate with the cover pivoted thereto and in open position and illustrating an insulator string being introduced into the crate;

Fig. 3 is an end view of a crate containing a The crates illustrated `are hexagonal in shapel and each comprises two separately assembled parts, oneof which is the crate proper and the other the cover. The crate proper comprises two similarly shaped end pieces ll arranged opposite one another in spaced relation and bridged together with a third end piece l2 to which end pieces il are permanently nailed. These end assemblies are connected by slats I3 secured to the end pieces `by nails or screws. The cover portion of the crate assembly consists of two end pieces l2 connected together by slats I3.

The end pieces l2 and l2 are so arranged that when the cover is in closed position they are opposite and in thev same spaced relation to one 'another as are end pieces H. As a consequence there is a square opening'l in the center of each end of the crate. Lateral -access may be had to these openings by removal of the cover portion of the crate, thereby permitting a string of insulators I6 of a length slightly greater than that of the crate to be positioned therein with the head il of the uppermost insulator passing through In the form of crate illustrated in Fig. 1, the

bottom insulator of a string rests on the lowermost end pieces l2 and I2 and, accordingly, if the cover should be swung to open position while the crate is standing on end the lowermost end piece l2' would =be moved from under the insulator string causing it to tend to fall out of the crate. Ordinarily the crate is not opened until the insulator string has been suspended `and therefore this feature is not considered objectionable. If considered objectionable, however, it can be overcomeiby modifying the structure in accordance with the disclosure in Fig. 4 wherein the lowermost insulator will rest on parts Il. With such a structure the support for the insulator string remains intact when the cover is swung to open position.

By packing a string of insul-ators in a crate assembly of either of the foregoing designs, it is possible to transport the assembled .and crated string of insulators from location of assembly to the tower from which they are to -be suspended and to actually raise and suspend them from such tower before severing the bands 'and removing the crate from about the insulators, thereby protecting them from dam-age until after their installation.

What is claimed is:

l. A crate suitable for lprotecting high tension insulators during transit and installation, comprising two units separable from one another each including an end connected to slats, the end of one unit consisting of 'a single part having two sides to which two of the slats are attached and the corresponding end 0f the other unit having three parts each having at least one side engaged by a slat and one of which is like the end of the rst unit and oppositely disposed and in spaced relation thereto and the remaining two of which are alike and disposed in spaced relation to one another and arranged at right angles to 'and overlapping the end part of the rst defined unit and pins passing through overlapping end parts of the respective units pivotally connecting them to one another.

2. A crate suitable for protecting high tension insulators during transit and installation, comprising two units separable from one another each including an end connected to slats, the end of one unit consisting of a single part having two sides to which two of the slats are attached and the corresponding end of the other unit having three parts each having at least one side engaged by a `slat and. one of which is like the end of the rst unit `and oppositely disposed and in spaced relation thereto and the remaining two of which are alike and disposed in spaced relation to one another and larranged at right angles to and overlapping the end part of the rst defined unit, pins passing through overlapping end pieces of the respective units pivotally connecting them to one another, and Ibands surrounding the crate and solely by frictional contact with the slats holding the units in closed position with respect to one another.

EDGAR R. WILSON. 

